McCauley Nearly Perfect in AAA Girls Victory; Chanhassen Ends Edina's 4-Year Reign

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By Mike Fermoyle (mikefermoyle@gmail.com)

COON RAPIDS -- There was a lot of talk at Bunker Hills Golf Course on Wednesday during the second round of the Class AAA girls portion of the state high school tournament about what a nice day it was, one of those sunny, not-too-hot, not-too-cold days, with a temperature in the mid-60's,  a big improvement on the cloudy, rainy conditions that prevailed on Tuesday. Definitely a great day -- for spectators. 

For golfers, it wasn't quite so great. They could see the biggest problem they were going to have to deal with as they made the turn north off of Hwy. 14 into the grounds at Bunker Hills Regional Park. The flag in front of the Holiday Station across the street was stretched straight out by strong winds that were blowing consistently from 10 to 15 miles per hour, and occasionally a little harder. 

Those winds made playing golf considerably more difficult than it had in the merely wet conditions the day before, and the scores reflected that. On Day 1, three players were under par, and eight players shot scores of 73 (1 over par) or better. On Day 2, only one player posted a score better than 74. That was Simley ninth-grader Isabella McCauley, who continued the virtuoso performance she had begun on Tuesday. She followed her first-round 67 with a 68 for a 36-hole total of 135. That tied the tournament record, set by Kenzie Neisen in 2014 -- in much more favorable conditions -- and it gave McCauley a 10-stroke victory.   

Courtney Wedin, a junior at Chanhassen, shot what turned out to be tied for the second-best score of the day, a 74, and that gave her a 145 and second place. Northfield senior Molly Stevens, who finished second behind the then-seventh grader Kathryn VanArragon of Blaine last year, matched Wedin's 74 on Wednesday and finished alone in third at 146. She ended up just ahead of VanArragon this year. The 2018 champion, now an eighth-grader, also shot 74 and posted an aggregate of 147 to finish fourth. 

McCauley's sister Reese, a seventh-grader, was next, alone in fifth, after shooting a 75 for a 148. 

The efforts of the McCauley sisters enabled Simley to make it onto the stage in front of the clubhouse at Bunker Hills for the team medals presentation. They finished third with a two-day tab of 655. 

Chanhassen won the team competition with a 318 for the round and a total of 627. That ended Edina's run of four consecutive girls AAA team championships. The Hornets had to settle for second place this year, with an overall 640.  

No one, boy or girl, has ever gone through the 36 holes of a Minnesota state high school tournament without making a bogey (or worse), but McCauley nearly did it. She made it through 32 holes bogey free. Then she came off a 7-iron on her 15th hole (No. 6 West), lost the shot to the right of the green, and drew a horrible lie in some recently installed sod surrounding a greenside bunker. She ended up missing a 14-foot par putt, but parred in from there.

"That was about as close to a perfect round of golf as you could get," Simley coach Kyle Golden marvelled afterward. 

McCauley says she doesn't like playing in the wind, but her coach didn't necessarily mind seeing the windy conditions on Wednesday.

"When the wind is blowing the way it did today," he noted, "it favors the players who hit the ball really solidly. Their shots aren't affected nearly as much as shots that are hit away from the center of the face, and Isabella hits the ball in the center of the clubface as often as anyone around here. I thought the conditions were definitely to her advantage, and I guess she proved it."

McCauley hit 17 greens in regulation in Tuesday's 67, and her longest par putt had been 2 feet. Her first par putt of the tournament longer than 2 feet came at the 133-yard, par-3 No. 3 East, where she had to make an 8-footer for her par. 

"The pin was in a difficult position, and I didn't want to be short," she said. "Obviously, I didn't want to be long, either. But I definitedly didn't want to be short, and I hit my 9-iron too far. I had a long first putt, and I left myself 8 feet, but I made that one. That helped calm me down, I think. It really helps if I can make a birdie before I make a bogey. It just takes some of the pressure off."

She parred the first six holes on the East Nine and then hit a 7-iron to 2 feet at No. 7 East (147 yards, par 3) for her first birdie. When she made the turn, she was 1 under for the round, 6 under for the tournament, and he lead had increased from three strokes at the beginning of the day to six."

It increased a lot more in the next five holes. McCauley hit a pitching wedge to 6 feet for a birdie at her 10th hole (No. 1 West -- 333 yards, par 4). No. 2 West (435, par 5) was playing downwind, and McCauley took advantage of it, hitting a 9-iron second shot onto the green and two-putting for her birdie. 

She nearly made it three birdies in a row, but just missed a 12-footer for birdie at No. 3 West (140, par 3). Undaunted, she made another two birdies in a row at 4 and 5 West. A nifty wedge from 40 yards left her with a 15-incher for birdie at No. 4 (282 yards, par 4), and after a 230-yard drive by the 5-foot-2-inch McCauley (she's added roughly 20 yards to her tee shots this year), she hit a 210-yard hybrid second shot just over the green at No. 5. From there, she hit a chip shot to 5 feet, and made that putt, too, which got her to minus 10, a place no one had ever been before in girls Class AAA.

The 7-iron that she fanned to the right of the green at the 368-yard, par-4 sixth hole on the West Nine was just about the only shot that McCauley really missed in two days. She might have escaped the hole with a par if she had gotten a favorable ruling there. Relief was allowed when a ball ended up in a seam between two strips fo the new sod, but the official who was called in ruled that the ball was not in a seam. McCauley had to play it as it was. 

"I didn't know whether it really was in a seam," McCauley said, "but it was worth a try. I just knew that the ball was buried in there, and I was just going to have to hack it out. When I didn't get the ruling, I wasn't even thinking about making a par anymore. I was just trying to avoid making a double bogey."

The last mini-crisis she faced was at 7 West (360, par 4), where she pulled her second shot and faced a 60-foot putt from just off the green. It proved not to be a problem, as McCauley lagged her first putt to within 2 feet and tapped in for par. She very nearly birdied 7 West (133, par 4). Her 9-iron was a little long, and she had a 35-foot birdie putt, but she came within 2 inches of making it. 

"My putting was really good both days," she said. "If I didn't hit a great iron shot, I was able to get my first putt close, and that made it a lot easier for me to stay calm. I wasn't trying to make a bunch 4-, 5- and 6-footers for par each day."

She capped off the round with an easy par at 9 West (294, par 4), although she admitted that she got a little conservative at the end. Having ripped a 240-yard drive downwind, she played away from the greenside bunker with a 50-yard wedge shot. It was the kind of shot that she'd been hitting close for the entire tournament, but hit this one 30 feet left of the hole and past it.

"Yeah," she said."I was so close to the end, and I was thinking: 'Just don't implode.' I had been trying to make birdies on pretty much every hole up to that point, but on that last hole I was willing to settle for a par."

Plus a 10-shot victory -- and a  tournament record.  

"Last year," she admitted, "I put too much pressure on myself, and I didn't play very well (the result was a 78-72--150 and a sixth-place finish). This year, I didn't do that. I was in a good place mentally, and I was very calm. I was able to take each shot and try to hit the shot as well as I could, and not worry about anything else. Basically, I was just playing golf,  hitting each shot, one at a time. And having fun."

Minnesota State High School Tournament

Class AAA Girls

At Bunker Hills Golf Course

Par 72, 5,500 yards

Coon Rapids

Final results

1. Chanhassen                        627

2. Edina                                   640

3. Simley                                 655

4. Roseville                             656

5. Stillwater                             677

6. Lakeville North                   685

7. Brainerd                             686

8. Forest Lake                       725

Individuals

1. Isabella McCauley, Simley                   67-68--135 (ties AAA record for lowest score)

2. Courtney Wedin, Chanhassen             71-74--145

3. Molly Stevens, Northfield                     72-74--146

4. Kathryn VanArrogon, Blaine                73-74--147

5. Reese McCauley, Simley                     73-75--148

6. Aayushi Sarkar, Woodbury                  73-76--149

7. Josalynn Abbott, Eagan                      76-74--150

T8. Vunnisa Vu, Roseville                        70-81--151

T8. Emma Welch, Lakeville North           74-77--151 

10. Melanie Leminh, Wayzata                 75-77--152